"She says 'I am shocked by what happened. I trusted him. I cannot stop thinking about what might have happened if he had not been stopped."

Sarah Jenkins, defending, said: "It was perhaps an unhealthy relationship and he didn't have the coping mechanisms to deal with it.

"He was at the time living a fairly independent lifestyle but had a good family support network around him.

"If a custodial sentence were imposed it would have a very detrimental effect on him being without support and without access to his children."

Thorp pleaded guilty to assaulting his former partner causing her actual bodily harm. He was sentenced to eight months jail suspended for a year and ordered to attend a 30 day rehabilitation activity requirement.

A retraining order was also made banning him from contacting his former partner for 10 years.